


Heart of Gold

by darkness_prince_dan



Series: Diamonds&Gold [2]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, Phan AU, Phan Angst, Phan Fluff, Phan Smut, Phanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:40:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4499244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkness_prince_dan/pseuds/darkness_prince_dan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Phil accuses Dan of having stolen his secrets, Dan seeks out the truth and travels back to London to get Phil back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart of Gold

London meets him with rain. The skies are overcast and it’s pouring as is expected. He’s drenched within seconds waiting for a cab and the howling wind helps only to make him shiver. He should’ve anticipated he’d receive such a welcome; London never was particularly kind to him. This was the city where his criminal history started, where he threw his morals to the wind and tried to get money by any means necessary.

_Fond memories_ , Dan thinks as he finally manages to hail a cab and get inside where it’s slightly warmer. While the cabbie struggles to get his suitcase into the boot of the car, he glances at the crowd through the rain stained window. A guy salutes him with a cold smile and Dan’s heart thrums erratically when the cabbie asks ‘where to?’. Dan’s eyes are glued to the guy who’s now talking on the phone and he stutters over the address of his hotel.

In hindsight, it was rather stupid of him to use the passport with his real name and surname on it. He should’ve anticipated that Matthias will still be searching for him and he’ll get alerted when Dan uses his name. He’s an idiot and he should’ve done so many things differently but when he finally found out the truth, he was too excited and emotional and got on the first flight to London from New York he could get. Now that he’s here, Dan understands what a mistake it was not to wait for a fake passport. But after weeks of not seeing Phil, he couldn’t bare another second without him.

Last time he saw Phil they were fighting and Phil accused him of a crime Dan didn’t commit. Just because he lies for a living doesn’t mean he’d betray Phil like that. How could he think Dan was behind the stealing and selling Phil’s secrets? Doesn’t he realise how much Dan changed while being with him? Doesn’t he know that during the short time they were together Dan fell in love and that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Phil? How could he think Dan was even capable of betraying him?

After the fight he had with Phil, Dan left his flat convinced that he’ll be able to figure out who stole Phil’s blueprints and sold them to his rivals and at the same time to prove to Phil that Dan hasn’t deceived him. It’s almost a month later now and Dan finally has something to show for his effort.

_~ 2 days earlier ~_

Having connections in the criminal world never seemed like an extremely important thing in Dan’s life. But when you’re looking for leaked information any connection is a good connection. After Jared denies having sold the blueprints that Dan had him look over, he admits to having copied and shown them to some of his tech obsessed friends. Most of them are off the grid and it takes him a few deals with some shady people to find them which proves to be in vain since they shared the info with at least a dozen more people. A few days have passed by that time, Dan’s desperate and Phil’s back in London. The brunet doesn’t give up though. He tracks everyone and questions them, sadly, without any results. Dan even resorts to going to the buyer and trying to get the info about the seller from him but he’s thrown out of the office by the security and gets a restraining order. All of this takes nearly three weeks and he still hasn’t acquired even a piece of knowledge about the real thief.

Dan’s playing a white grand piano he bought right after Phil left. It should make him feel better, getting back into music and all, but all he can do is play one melancholic song after another and think about Phil and how Dan doesn’t have any new leads and it’s been nearly a month and he’s failed to find the real traitor, the one who threw Dan under the bus for selling the blueprints and costing Phil’s company hundreds of millions.

There’s a knock on his door, Dan ignores it. He’s wallowing in self-pity and self-hate, it’s a precious time he doesn’t want to waste on others. But then a key turns in the lock and Dan knows it’s Jasmine, his one and only friend.

“For fuck’s sake, Dan,” the dark skinned silver haired girl greets him coming into his lounge. “Are you still moping around?”

Dan glares at her over his shoulder not wanting to stop playing.

“What’s he doing here?” The brunet asks noticing Jared standing awkwardly behind Jasmine.

“I brought him to help,” she shrugs a shoulder.

“He wasn’t much help three weeks earlier,” Dan mumbles turning back to the keys. “Does he have new information? Has he shared the super-secret blueprints I showed him with more people?” He asks all bitter and irritated.

“Come on, man,” Jared whines. “It’s not like you got them legally either. I just took the opportunity to look over some really cool inventions.”

The piano makes a horrible sound when Dan nearly smashes the keys. The brunet gets up clenching his fists and strides to Jared who’s looking at him with wide eyes and is holding his laptop as a shield in front of himself.

“You shared those ‘cool inventions’ with your nerd friends,” Dan sneers at him. “And now the guy I’m in love with hates me because one of those nerds managed to sell the prints and I’m the one left to blame.”

“Alright, calm down, lover boy,” Jasmine puts a hand on Dan’s shoulder and pushes him away from Jared.

“I will calm down when I fucking bash his skull in,” the brunet growls.

“We both now you’re as dangerous as a butterfly on a marshmallow,” she rolls her eyes, face impassive as always. “Besides, I talked to Jared and he got an idea.”

Dan glares daggers at the guy who’s hugging the laptop to his chest now.

“What if your computer got hacked and that’s how the blueprints got stolen?” Jared asks timidly.

“Why would anyone hack my computer, genius?” Dan’s still not over projecting the anger he feels towards himself onto Jared; it might not be healthy but Dan thinks it’s a better option than drowning himself in sorrow and guilt. “Nobody, except you, knew I had the prints.”

“Yeah,” Jasmine nods crossing her arms and leaning on a nearby wall. “But it wouldn’t hurt to check. Also, I thought that maybe Phil’s laptop could’ve been accessed like that. I mean, plenty of people at his office knew what was on there and he has a load of techs working for him who could easily hack his computer without him noticing.”

“Really?” Dan lifts an eyebrow at Jasmine. “ _You_  thought of this?”

“Well, Jared did most of the thinking,” she smirks brushing away her silver hair.

“Shall we begin then?” Jared questions anxiously, seemingly wanting to get this over with as fast as possible.

Since Dan has no other leads and he’s pretty desperate, he gives in and they make themselves comfortable in his lounge while Jared works magic on his laptop.

_~ Now ~_

Dan steps out of the cab over an hour later. All this time he’s been trying to contact Phil and organise a meeting or something but, as for the past weeks, Phil’s ignoring Dan’s calls and messages. The brunet’s persistent, though, and after the twentieth or so call within the span of ten minutes, Phil finally answers.

“What?” He says angrily and Dan relishes even in the negative tones of his voice.

“Hi,” he’s smiling like an idiot and standing in the rain.

“Is that all?” Phil asks coldly but Dan doesn’t care as long as he speaks at all.

“No,” Dan bites his lip. “I found the person, Phil. I found the one who actually sold those prints,” he says nervously excited.

“Dan,” Phil sighs his name, it doesn’t sound relieved, however, it’s more of an exasperated sigh. “I thought we went over this.”

“I mean it, Phil,” he says quickly, afraid to lose him. “Just meet with me and I’ll tell you everything.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line as Phil’s contemplating the pros and cons of such a meeting. Dan’s gnawing on his lip in anticipation of his decision. He lifts his eyes from the pavement and pushes his damp fringe off his forehead. Two guys are coming his way on his left. There’s no doubt in Dan’s mind who sent them. The brunet turns right not even bothering with his luggage, if he needs to run, he’d better not have something heavy to tow around. But there are two more guys heading for him from that direction too. Dan swears.

“Dan?” Comes Phil’s voice from the phone still pressed to Dan’s ear.

“I have to go now,” Dan responds heading straight into the street, a car almost hits him breaking too late and Dan smacks a hand onto the hood trying to keep his balance. There’s honking all around as the guys are now in the street too, following him. He starts running.

“What’s going on? Dan?” Phil sounds worried. Dan would smile to himself and be overjoyed that Phil apparently still cares if he wasn’t in such a situation.

“Um, I’m in a bit of a pickle at this moment,” Dan huffs into the phone rounding a corner and nearly clashing into a gentleman with an umbrella. “Could I call you later?”

“Is this some sort of bizarre way you’re trying to get me back?” Phil asks suspiciously.

“No, no, I promise, no more manipulations, I’m done with that,” Dan’s breathing heavily, he should really start taking up sport regularly; to be fair, however, he never had to run from guys sent to kill him.

“Are you running?” Sounds Phil’s voice.

Dan rolls his eyes wanting to say ‘no shit, Sherlock’ but he’s way too out of breath. He ducks into an alley and hides behind a dumpster. He’s nearly coughing up his lungs but tries to stay as quiet as possible. With all the rain going on and the loud traffic, he doubts they’ll hear him but better safe than sorry.

“Dan? Dan?!” Phil doesn’t stop repeating his name and Dan hisses a ‘shh’ at him. “Did you just shush me?” The other asks incredulous, Dan ignores him in favour of glancing from behind the dumpster. It proves to be a bad idea as one of the guys spots him and shouts to his other friends. Dan tries standing up as fast as he can but he slips and lands in the mud on his face, the phone slips from his fingers and slides further away.

“You’re a hard man to find, Howell,” Dan hears as he turns around and sits up.

“Not hard enough, apparently,” Dan responds looking at the three guys through the thick filter of rain.  _Where’s the fourth?_ He wonders idly.

“You’ll come nicely or do we have to punch you?” The same guy asks. He has freckles and blonde hair, he’s broad-shouldered and blue eyed, Matthias’ brother guessing by the similarity.

Dan doesn’t get to answer as yet another goon lifts him by the collar of his shirt to his feet then jams a gun into his ribs barking at him to walk. Phil’s voice is still shouting his name by the time they leave the alley.

They put a bag over his head and handcuff his hands when they push him into the car. No one talks, not even the radio plays, only the sound of rain hitting the car can be heard. It’s rather nerve wracking and if they want to intimidate him then they’re quite successful, Dan thinks. After they finally stop, Dan’s led into a building and down a bunch of stairs. There are voices coming, echoing, from somewhere. They get closer, the words more distinguishable. They’re in a room and Dan’s sat on a chair, someone holds him in place with a hand on his shoulder. Out of habit he listens intently to the conversation; any piece of information can be useful.

“I told you once and I’ll tell you again: your product is shit,” an unfamiliar female voice says scathingly. “I’m not buying from you again until you get better suppliers.”

“Rose, come on,” Dan recognises Matthias’ voice, it makes his heart skip a beat in fear. “It’s the best you can get on this side of town.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Matt,” the girl responds chirpily, Dan thinks she must be smirking. “David has something better to offer. So I’ll be conducting my business with him until you sort this out.”

Heels click off into the distance and Dan jumps at the sound of something crashing loudly. A string of colourful swearwords follows the banging. Then the bag is gone and Dan blinks at the dimly lit room. It’s spacious with lights pointed at the middle of the room where Dan’s sitting and some hanging above, flickering annoyingly. There’s a steel table on his left, various tools glisten upon it. Another such table is lying on its side a bit further away, white powder covers it in a cloud. Dan lifts his eyes to the man approaching him.

“Matthias,” he greets feigning a smile, his heart going a mile a minute.

“Dan Howell,” the blonde freckled man responds with a sinister smile. “Last time I saw you, you were fucking my sister and stealing my money.”

“Yeah, I’d love to catch up on old times but I kind of have to be somewhere,” Dan tries to pretend calm and collected when on the inside he’s dreading to even think what the tools on the table are for.

“I’m afraid it’ll have to be now,” Matthias smirks and punches Dan right out of his chair.

Dan breaks his fall with his handcuffed hands but his head is already dizzy and throbbing; he really hates the brutality of mobsters.

“How much did you steal from me?” Matthias asks seemingly genuinely curious whilst lifting Dan up by his collar; they’ll really stretch his favourite shirt if they keep doing that.

“I didn’t steal,” Dan answers staring straight into those blue eyes running in Matthias’ family; damn, he’s a sucker for blue eyes. “Rebecca gave most of it to me.”

“My sister’s generous, that’s true,” Matthias agrees kneeing Dan in the ribs with all he’s got, the brunet groans curling into a ball on the concrete floor. “But she’s not that generous,” the blonde continues crouching besides Dan. “Did you know you broke her heart? She wept for weeks after you drained my account and ran away. She said she thought it was ‘real love’,” he actually uses air quotes as Dan’s struggling to breathe, he hopes nothing’s broken.

“It’s not my fault she was under that assumption,” Dan coughs out.

He regrets it immediately as Matthias lifts him by his hair and hits his head onto the steal table, the tools rattle against the metal. Dan’s vision blurs slightly and the pain intensifies tenfold. But at least now he’s not worried about his ribs being broken and is more concerned about getting his head split open.

“I’ll let you off the hook for that one because Becca is now happily married,” Matt says keeping Dan’s cheek against the cold metal. There’s something happening behind them but it’s ringing in Dan’s ears and he can’t quite tell what. “I would like my money back, however.”

“As it happens, I don’t carry around a million pounds,” Dan wheezes out. “But as soon as I get it, I’m totally bringing it to you.”

“You’re still the same smart ass as you used to be,” Matthias laughs. He looks over his shoulder and nods.

Matt lifts his head by his hair and drags him to a tub a few paces behind them. He kicks the backs of Dan’s knees making him kneel in front of it. The tub is filled with water and ice cubes are covering the surface.  _Fuck_ , is all that goes through Dan’s mind as his heart rate reaches a new high. London so doesn’t like him.

“You saw me do it once, you know how this works,” Matthias says calmly and then Dan’s submerged.

The extreme cold instantly sets his face alight. His new bruises and scratches don’t matter anymore as his lungs are begging for air and his skin is being pierced with thousands of icy needles. Seconds later he’s gasping and shivering as Matthias gets him out.

“Now then, how about that money?” He asks amicably.

“I – I don’t – don’t ha-have it,” Dan stutters out, his teeth rattling and lungs burning. He’s telling the truth for once in his life. All he has in his bank account is about seven hundred grand in dollars and that’s not even half a million in pounds.

“Wrong answer,” Matthias sighs and then Dan’s underwater again.

It’s worse the second time. He’s drowning. His head is about to explode, he’s fighting the urge to breathe in, fill his lungs with something, anything, even water. Throat set on fire, eyes red, gasping for life, Dan’s out of the tub.

“I heard your business was quite successful overseas and you recently sold some very valuable blueprints,” Matthias says.

“Wa-wasn’t m-me,” the brunet manages. Every breath hurts and he’s shivering uncontrollably. “Why…” He breathes in deeply and chokes on it. “Why do you need the money back?” He wonders staring at the bright white lights above them. “It’s been three years.”

“My business is not doing as well as yours,” Matt shrugs. “I need all the donations I can get.”

He’s about to put Dan under again when the brunet is struck with a brilliant idea.

“Wait!” He shouts and his nose barely touches the ice cubes when Matthias pulls him back.

“You want to share something?” He asks.

“I can get you something better than money,” Dan offers.

“And what would that be?” Matthias wonders pulling on his hair making Dan look at him.

“You need new stuff, right?” Dan glances at the table covered in white powder and prays to all gods known to mankind for his plan to work.

“Yeah. Are you a dealer now?” Matthias laughs.

“No,” Dan refuses the urge to roll his eyes. “I know a good supplier, though. He’s in New York and looking to expand internationally. He sells only to the prissy rich kids so his product is good.”

Matthias narrows his eyes at him inspecting his every tremble.

“You wouldn’t be lying to me, right, Dan?”

“Believe me, I’m done with that for now,” he responds unsuccessfully trying to slow his heart rate.

“Alright,” Matthias nods letting him go and Dan plops on his ass. “Make the call right now.”

Dan panics. The whole thing was meant to buy him time. They should’ve let him go and had him arrange a meeting at some later date. Now, however, Dan’s caught. He’s not even sure Rob hasn’t already expanded his business.

“I don’t have my phone here, lost it when your boys were chasing me,” Dan attempts to get out of the sticky situation.

“Don’t worry,” Matt’s brother, the one Dan talked to in the alley speaks up. “I have it right here,” he pulls Dan’s phone out of his pocket and hands it to him.

With trembling fingers Dan unlocks his phone and goes through the contact list. While it’s ringing, he thinks what hour it is in New York and whether he’ll wake Rob up. As the familiar voice answers, Dan feels instant relief.

“Dan? What the fuck, dude? Why haven’t you called in so long?” Rob greets cheerily.

Matthias orders Dan to put it on speaker.

“Hey, man,” the brunet responds. “Yeah, sorry about that. But I’m calling with an offer.”

“Offer? What kind of offer?”

“You know how you thought about expanding your business? Well, I have a partner here in London you could team up with,” he glances at Matthias who casually gets a gun out and smirks at Dan. The brunet gulps audibly.

“London? That’s a bit far, man. I was thinking more about staying on the same continent,” Rob says apologetically and Dan’s heart is back in his throat, a panic attack threatening to overwhelm him. But talking is all he has and it’s been his job to sweet talk everyone and anyone for years so he’s not giving up.

“Rob, listen,” he says urgently, desperately. “It’s worth the risk. I know this guy, you’ll have constant demand and steady income. Jasmine knows a thrill seeker who would gladly risk his business to be involved in something illegal. If you talk to her, I’m sure she’ll convince him for a symbolic price.”

There’s a beat of silence on the other line. Matthias lifts an eyebrow and points the gun at Dan’s head. The brunet closes his eyes and breathes out slowly.

“Damn, Howell, you know how to convince a guy,” Rob laughs. “Let me talk to this guy and we’ll see.”

Dan sighs in relief handing the phone over to Matthias and falling back onto the hard floor, groaning in pain. He stares at the irregularly blinking lights and zones out for a few minutes. Kicking Dan’s sneaker with his boot, Matthias signalises for him to get up.

“Nice job, Howell,” he smiles at him and then glares at one of his goons. “Uncuff the man for fuck’s sake, he’s just saved us millions,” Matthias claps him on the shoulder and Dan thanks his lucky stars for the ability to think quickly under pressure.

***

An hour and a half later Matthias’ boys drop Dan off in front of Phil’s building. It’s midnight by now and the rain has stopped. Dan’s mind is a bit muddled from the pain killers they gave him and from being a bit sleep deprived but he refused to go back to his hotel and waste time recovering. Especially since one of the thugs happened to take his laptop along with his luggage so Dan now has all the evidence at hand.

Dan heads straight for Phil’s floor and bangs on his door holding the laptop close to himself. He’s glad he was smart enough to look up where Phil lives instead of just expecting him to ask Dan to come to his home. The door opens up almost instantly and they both stare at each other. Phil looks just as Dan remembers him: black hair dishevelled, fringe pushed back, glasses sliding off his nose.

“What happened to you?” Phil asks, staring worriedly at Dan’s bruised face.

“Caught up with some friends,” the brunet answers, his heart is thrumming faster again, luckily not out of complete terror. “It doesn’t matter. Can I come in?”

Phil moves to the side and Dan enters his spacious living room. It’s not like his flat in New York; this one feels more like home, more Phil-like without the lavish and unnecessary decorations. There are various trinkets of Phil’s scattered around, books he’s read or maybe just planning to, succulents and cacti on windowsills, cushions with galaxy prints on them, splashes of colour around the seemingly pristinely white room. He turns around to face Phil for some reason feeling shy and awkward. Phil’s not looking at him with anger burning in his eyes like last time so Dan thinks it was rather beneficial for him to get beaten up.

“It was someone from your office,” Dan blurts out.

“What was someone from my office?” Phil furrows his brows, not following Dan’s train of thought.

“The person who stole the prints,” the brunet explains. “This guy I know accessed your laptop and found out that someone had already done it when you were in New York.”

“You accessed my laptop without my knowledge?” Phil crosses his arms not exactly happy about that. “Tell me how this illegal activity should change my mind about you?”

Dan bites his lip. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that.

“That’s beside the point,” he smiles sheepishly. “The thing is that he found the IP address of the laptop used to hack yours. I have all the evidence here,” he extends his own computer to Phil.

“And why should I believe this? You could’ve just made all this up and incriminated one of my people. That’s what you do, Dan,” Phil glances away sounding disappointed.

“Phil, please, I didn’t,” Dan pleads frantically. “I would never do this to you.”

Phil laughs humourlessly and looks at him.

“We’ve already had this conversation and we both know how it ends,” he says.

Dan clenches his jaw wincing slightly at the pain stinging his bruised cheek. He throws the laptop on the sofa behind him and gets closer to Phil jabbing a finger in his chest.

“Do you think I would come back here just for some scam?” Dan growls. “Do you think I wanted to get my ass kicked by mobsters who have been looking for me for three fucking years? Do you think I’d spend a month questioning every tech geek I managed to find just for the fun of it? Do you think I would have done all that if I wasn’t head over heels desperately in love with your stupid ass?” He near snarls letting all the anger out. It’s completely unfair of Phil to keep repeating the same arguments as to why he can’t trust Dan without even listening to him and trying to understand him.

Phil lifts an eyebrow, gaze flickering from Dan’s eyes to his lips.

“You’re in love with me?” He breathes incredulous.

“That’s all you got from my whole speech?” Dan deadpans pursing his lips.

“You’re an idiot,” Phil smiles and then kisses him.

They both lose all control after that.

It’s like their first time all over again, Dan thinks. He has no idea how they got to Phil’s bedroom or when he lost his clothes but they’re sitting on the bed, hands touching every possible inch of skin. Phil’s lips are on his nipping gently, fingers threading through his hair, trailing down to the nape of his neck. Every touch sets Dan’s skin ablaze with need and want and lust.

Breathing heavily, chests heaving in unison, their eyes meet in the dim light of the room. Tenderly, nearly hovering, Phil’s fingertips brush over the bruise on Dan’s left cheek, run down the side of his neck, over his collarbone, leaving a tingling in their wake. He pushes against Dan’s shoulder making him lie down then dips and butterflies soft kisses down the middle of his chest, his fingers never stop drawing patterns on his sides. A shiver runs through Dan as Phil slides lower, licking, biting, kissing.

He feels as though floating weightless, his mind filled with fog, all his senses focused only on pleasure, nothing else exists but Phil and his touch. The brunet briefly wonders if this could be the effect of those painkillers. However, Phil’s fingers run over Dan’s ribs and he hisses in pain, his head clearing.

“Sorry, sorry,” Phil murmurs hovering over Dan in an instant and locking their lips.

The pain is already forgotten as another wave of endorphins drowns Dan swallowing him whole.

His hands roam over Phil’s chest and dip lower, drawing a moan out of him. The brunet smiles and whines softly as Phil reciprocates the touch. He flips them slowly, planting pecks on Phil’s forehead, cheeks, avoiding his lips, teasing. Marks are left on Phil’s neck, his collarbones, chest, everywhere and anywhere Dan wishes. The need for possessiveness is unfamiliar to Dan but he wants Phil all to himself, wants to be the only one to hear the sounds he makes, wants to be the only one who can make him unravel, who knows all his darkest secrets and most brilliant thoughts, wants to be the only constant in Phil’s life and he wants Phil to possess him as well, wants them to be inseparable forever and always.

They’re a mess of wet kisses, gentle caresses, whispered pleas and insistent demands. ‘I missed you, fuck, I missed you so much’ and ‘I love you, I’m never leaving you again’ drip off their tongues in the frenzied bliss. Hearts beat to the same rhythm, thudding in their ears, breathing is irregular and loud.

Dan’s on his back again and his fingers are in Phil’s hair as the latter mouths at his hip scratching his thigh with his fingernails. The brunet trembles with desire, his pelvis moving on its own free will. Possibly the hundredth moan leaves his lips when Phil drags his teeth across the sensitive skin of Dan’s stomach and nips at the other hip. A ‘please, Phil’ tumbles out of Dan’s mouth: needy, impatient, breathless. Phil finally listens to him.

Palm up, Phil holds Dan’s left hand. Cold substance dollops onto it and he rubs his fingers together. Phil slides up Dan’s body and lifts his hips up, kneeling, hands bracing on either side of the other. His lips find Dan’s sharing an open mouthed kiss. Meanwhile, Dan’s hands wander down from the small of his back, fingers gentle and careful. Phil groans into Dan’s mouth. Sighing, he drops his head on Dan’s shoulder closing his eyes and simply feeling, enjoying. With his free hand Dan paints Phil’s side with the burning red heat of his fingertips.

Total bliss overwhelms Dan when Phil finally sinks onto him. Fingers splayed on the other’s chest, Phil slowly builds a rhythm. He throws his head back finding the spot and moaning obscenely. Gripping his hips, guiding him, Dan moans himself. They don’t last long.

Engulfed by ecstasy, Dan thinks he chants Phil’s name. He’s not too sure, however, for his mind is fuzzy and all he can think about at this moment is the immense pleasure. For minutes he relishes in the delight, completely happy and thrilled to be existing on this planet at the same time as the celestial creature beside him. But he falls from the high slowly, the endorphins cease taking effect and Dan feels the aftermath of the beating again. He’s not regretting it, however. It was absolutely perfect.

“You look like shit,” Phil murmurs, his lips are on Dan’s neck and fingertips caress his thigh.

“Rude,” the brunet responds without any bite kissing the top of Phil’s head.

“You’re exhausted, you need to rest,” the other clarifies, pecking Dan’s sweaty forehead and brushing away the fringe.

“Mmm, maybe I do,” he whispers, eyes already closing. He’s out in seconds.

***

The mornings in London aren’t as bright and sunny as in New York, Dan concludes when he wakes up to low hanging clouds with zero chance of sunshine. Typical. The brightness of the day is still irritating his eyes, however. It makes his head throb as if with a hangover so he rolls away from it onto his left side. That seems to be not the best choice as he groans with pain and lies back onto his back. Looking down at his ribs, he sees a blossoming bruise dyeing his skin in dark purples, blues and nearly blacks. The painkillers have worn off and he feels the full kick of the pain when he’s breathing.

“Fuck,” he whispers wincing and frowning as he tries to get out of bed.

After putting on Phil’s pyjama bottoms, he stumbles into the bathroom and raids his medicine cabinet for something useful. There’s nothing really strong so instead he takes several weaker pills hoping they’ll work at least on some level. When that’s taken care of, Dan heads in search for Phil.

The black-haired man is sitting in the lounge, Dan’s laptop on his thighs. The brunet lands on the sofa beside him and hisses grabbing his side.

“Wow, that looks bad,” Phil comments biting his lip and staring at the bruise. “Maybe we should get you to a hospital,” he suggests getting up.

Dan catches him by the arm and sits him back putting his head on Phil’s shoulder.

“I’m fine,” he says. “You’re looking through the evidence?”

Phil looks at him a moment all concerned but Dan smirks, kisses his neck and repeats that he’s fine so the other drops it for the time being.

“I actually already looked through and made some phone calls. It will be dealt with,” he explains and closes the computer putting it aside.

“Dealt with?” Dan raises an eyebrow. “That sounds ominous.”

“I’m not going to kill anyone if you’re thinking that,” Phil smirks and rolls his eyes.

A silence falls over them, the kind that Dan missed the most. It’s one of those comfortable ones when you’re both lost in your thoughts and it’s not necessary to communicate, just being close is all that’s needed.

“I’m sorry,” Phil whispers into Dan’s hair. “I acted like a jerk and jumped to so many wrong conclusions. I should’ve listened to you.”

“I get it,” the other murmurs. “I lied to you about myself, you had no reason to trust me,” Dan tangles their fingers together and Phil rubs circles onto his knuckles. “It’s fine now. And I’m done with my con days, from now on I’ll focus on music, and I can stay in London with you,” he lifts his head planting a soft kiss upon Phil’s lips.

“I like the sound of that,” the other smiles.

Outside it starts raining again, the cliché London showing its true colours. Dan doesn’t mind it, though. He might miss the sunny and cheerful New York with all its potential to make dreams come true but the overcast London is his home. And when he gets to enjoy a rainy morning sipping a cup of tea wrapped up in his lover’s arms, what more could he wish for?


End file.
